Kazakhstan's Asadel Holding could become new owner of OBI chain in Russia - paper

NUR-SULTAN. April 21 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's Asadel Holding, the OBI franchise owner in Kazakhstan, may become a new owner of the OBI chain of DIY hypermarkets in Russia, according to the Kommersant newspaper.

Yerlan Seisembayev is Asadel DIY President, while businessman Galimzhan Yessenov is named as another owner of the Asadel Holding, according to the newspaper.

The first OBI hypermarket in Kazakhstan was opened in 2018. In total, Asadel was planning to open six retail stores in Kazakhstan by 2022.

OBI said in March that it was shutting its 27 stores in Russia. Later the category director of the OBI chain in Russia, Maxim Suravegin, said at the DIY Forum that the retailer plans to resume operations. German DIY retailer denied the information about reopening its stores saying that "the stores in Russia will remain closed."

OBI had 27 stores and 4,900 employees in Russia. The retailer has more than 640 stores in ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including more than 350 in Germany, and 48,000 employees in total. The company's sales in 2021 totaled 8.7 billion euros.